Safety is always an important aspect that everyone should look for when they are buying a new car. In India a few years back we did not take safety as important as other features on our cars. And we were driving cars which were not at all safe. Still today most of the cars on the road are unsafe, but the trend will change slowly. In this article, I will list the top 23 safest cars in India with 4+ global NCAP ratings that you can buy today. This article will be updated as and when the new car receives 4+ Global NCAP ratings.
Safety is something we always ignore, but with growing competition in the international market, Indian cars need to be safe to drive. Safety features like ABS with EBD, ESP, ISOFIX, driver and passenger Airbags, and parking sensors were not even standard a few years back. But in today’s scenario, most cars have these as standard safety features regardless of the variant you buy. More and more cars should be tested with Global NCAP and score a good rating. And more safety features should be standard like Lane-keeping assist, blind-spot warning, adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, drowsiness alert and much more.
Let’s see the safest cars in India
Safest cars with 5-star Global NCAP ratings
Maruti Suzuki New Dzire
The New Maruti Suzuki Dzire is the first Maruti car to score 5 stars in the Global NCAP test. The New Dzire has received a 5-star rating and 31.24 points out of 34 for adult occupants and a 4-star rating and 39.20 points out of 49 for child occupants.
Tata Nexon Facelift
Tata Nexon facelift has received a 5-star rating and 32.22 points out of 34 for adult occupants and a 5-star rating and 44.52 points out of 49 for child occupants. I thought they would test it with Bharat NCAP, but we got a 5-star rating for some of our favourite SUVs with global NCAP and that is a good thing.
Tata Safari/Harrier
Tata Safari and Harrier have received a 5-star rating and 33.05 points out of 34 for adult occupants and a 5-star rating and 45.00 points out of 49 for child occupants. Tata has finally tested the new Tata harrier and safari facelift with global ncap. I thought they would test it with Bharat NCAP, but we got a 5-star rating for some of our favourite SUVs with global NCAP and that is a good thing. Safari and Harrier have also become the only SUVs in India to get 5-star for Child occupants.
Hyundai Verna
Hyundai Verna received a 5-star rating and 28.18 points out of 34 for adult occupants and a 5-star rating and 42.00 points out of 49 for child occupants. It is currently the third sedan in India to score a 5-star rating in both adult & child safety after Volkswagen Virtus and Skoda Slavia.
Volkswagen Virtus/ Skoda Slavia
Volkswagen Virtus & Skoda Slavia both received a 5-star rating and 29.71 points out of 34 for adult occupants and a 5-star rating and 42.00 points out of 49 for child occupants. As both cars are built on the same platform the cars are similar. It is currently the second car in India to score a 5-star rating in child safety.
Skoda Kushaq
Skoda Kushaq received a 5-star rating and 29.64 points out of 34 for adult occupants and a 5-star rating and 42.00 points out of 49 for child occupants. It is currently the only car in India to score a 5-star rating in child safety.
Tata Punch
Tata Punch received a 5-star rating and 16.45 points out of 17 for adult occupants and a 4-star rating and 40.89 points out of 49 for child occupants. It is currently one of the safest cars you can buy in India.
Mahindra XUV 300
XUV300 scores a solid 5-star rating in the Global NCAP crash test in Africa. It gets a 5-star rating for adult occupants and 4 stars for child occupants. it scored 16.42 points out of 17 for adult safety and 37.44 points out of 49 for child occupants safety. It is also one of the safest cars you can buy in India.
Mahindra Scorpio N
Mahindra Scorpio N has scored a 5-star rating in the Global NCAP crash test. It gets a 5-star rating for adult occupants and 3 stars for child occupants. it scored 29.25 points out of 34 for adult safety and 28.93 points out of 49 for child occupant safety. It is one of the safest SUVs you can buy today in India.
Tata Nexon
The Tata Nexon achieved a 5-star rating and 16.06 points out of 17 for adult occupants and a 3-star rating and 25 points out of 49 for child occupant protection in the Global NCAP crash test. The child occupant rating is a little low, but the overall built quality is good.
Mahindra XUV 700
Mahindra XUV 700 achieved 5-star and 16.03 points out of 17 for adult occupants and 4-star and 41.66 out of 49 for child occupants. It is the latest car that scored 5-star making it one of the safest cars you can buy in India.
Tata Altroz
The Altroz got a 5-star rating for adult occupant protection with a total score of 16.13 points out of a total of 17 points and a 3-star rating for child occupant protection in the Global NCAP crash test with a total score of 29.00 points out of a total of 49 points. It is one of the safest hatchbacks you can buy in India
Safest cars with 4-star Global NCAP ratings
Mahindra Thar
The Mahindra Thar has achieved an encouraging 4-star rating for both adult and child occupants in Global NCAP. Thar scored 12.52 points out of 17 for adult occupants and 41.11 out of 49 points for child occupants.
Tata Tigor EV
Tata Tigor EV did a little better in terms of child protection than its petrol version. It scored 4-star and 12 points out of 17 for adult occupants and 4-star and 37.24 points out of 49 for child occupants. It is one of the safest Electric vehicles on sale in India.
Honda City (4th Gen)
Honda City scored 4-star and 12.03 points out of 17 for adult occupants, and for child occupants, it scored 4-star with 38.27 points out of 49. The City has been one of the favourite cars in India, and the 4th gen is again a very good car with good safety.
Mahindra Marazzo
Marazzo achieved a rating of 4-star and 12.85 points out of 17 for adult occupants and 2-star and 22.22 points out of 49 for child occupants.
Volkswagen Polo
Polo with 2 airbags scored a 4-star rating for adult occupants and a 3-star rating for child occupants. The total score was 12.54 out of 17 for adult occupants and 29.91 out of 49 for child occupants. Polo with no Airbags only scored 2-rating for child occupants and 0 for adult occupants.
Tata Tigor/Tiago
Tata Tigor and Tiago received 4-star and 12.52 points out of 17 for adult occupants, and 3-star and 34.15 points out of 49 for child occupants.
Renault Triber
Triber received a 4-star rating and 11.62 points out of 17 for adult occupants, and a 3-star rating and 27 points out of 49 for child occupants.
Honda Jazz
Toyota Urban Cruiser
Urban Cruiser is a similar-looking vehicle to Maruti Breeza, this vehicle has scored 4-star and 13.52 points out of 17 for adult occupants and 3-star and 36.68 points out of 49 for child occupants. In terms of child occupants, it is better than Maruti Breeza.
Renault Kiger
Kiger received a 4-star rating and 12.34 points out of 17 for adult occupants and 2-star and 21.05 points out of 49 for child occupants. This vehicle is safe but not for Children.
Maruti Suzuki Brezza
Breeza received a 4-star rating and 12.51 points out of 17 for adult occupants and for child occupants Breeza received 2-star and 17.93 points out of 49. Though adult safety is good, child safety is quite low. It is only Maruti on sale to have 4+ stars.
Nissan Magnite
Conclusion
We definitely need safer cars on the streets, but for the existing cars that do not have any safety features, the drivers need to have better awareness and alertness and should drive cautiously. Approx 1.3 million people die each year worldwide according to WHO due to road accidents. And it cost around 3% of a country’s GDP. I think the government should invest in making the safety features more accessible and less expensive so that more people would buy a safe car. Governments can do this by providing subsidies to companies that produce a car that gets a 4+ star Global NCAP rating.
A car that is priced around 3-4 lakhs is not at all safe in India, because it has very few safety features. These cars should be made safer, as most Indians buy these cars.
Finally, I would like to only say one thing “Drive Safe with complete alertness on the road”
Thank you so much to the Global NCAP website for all the data. Here is the link to all the cars tested by Global NCAP
https://www.globalncap.org/safercarsforindia
